Archaeologica.org

More than 2,000 years ago workers cut and hoisted thousands of limestone blocks to build the complex's soaring step pyramids, temples, and plazas. These structures were coated with lime stucco and painted with ferric oxide, a bright red pigment made from the mineral hematite. The mineral deterred erosion and, because it resembles blood, symbolized power.

For more than a thousand years the Maya commanded an empire that at times stretched from Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula in the north to Honduras in the south (map of Central and North America).

The Maya Empire saw advances in architecture, writing, religion, science, and math. It was also home to a network of densely populated cities like El Mirador.

But for unknown reasons the empire declined after A.D. 900—a collapse fictionalized in Apocalypto.

According to the handwritten report of the deputy who pulled Gibson over, published by TMZ.com, after he was arrested Gibson launched into an anti-Semitic tirade, saying: "F***ing Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Gibson then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

A key consultant among several archeologists who served as advisors on Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" said he is disappointed that the film overlooks many of the Mayas' cultural and scientific achievements and portrays the people as "bloodthirsty savages."

Blood sells.

Quote:
Blood sells.



Sex too - I hear.

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Coincidence?

once Gibson paints this bloody picture of 15th century Maya civilization, the ultimate injustice is handed the pre-Columbian Maya. As the jungle hero escapes the evil city and is chased to the edge of the sea by his antagonists, with literally nowhere else to turn, Spanish galleons appear, complete with a small, lead boat carrying a stalwart friar hoisting a crucifix. For Gibson, the new beginning for these lost Mayan people, the Apocalypto, evidently is the coming of the Spaniards and Christianity to the Americas.

Although this film will undoubtedly create interest in the field of Maya archaeology by way of its spectacular reconstructions and beautiful jungle scenes, the lasting impression of Maya and other pre-Columbian civilizations is this: The Maya were simple jungle bands or bloodthirsty masses duped by false religions, resulting in the ruin of their mighty but misguided civilization, and their salvation arrived with the coming of Christian beliefs saddled on the backs of Spanish conquistadors.

So what am I misunderstanding here?

The Criminal History of the Papacy
The papal office has an unparalleled record of corruption and criminality over the centuries, and the true history of the popes is one of scandals, cruelty, debauchery, reigns of terror, warfare and moral depravity.
Part 1 of 3

But I find the visual appeal of the film one of the most disturbing aspects of "Apocalypto." The jungles of Veracruz and Costa Rica have never looked better, the masked priests on the temple jump right off a Classic Maya vase, and the people are gorgeous. The fact that this film was made in Mexico and filmed in the Yucatec Maya language coupled with its visual appeal makes it all the more dangerous. It looks authentic; viewers will be captivated by the crazy, exotic mess of the city and the howler monkeys in the jungle. And who really cares that the Maya were not living in cities when the Spanish arrived?

there is something very different about portraying a group of people, who are now recovering from 500 years of colonization, as violent and brutal. These are people who are living with the very real effects of persistent racism that at its heart sees them as less than human. To think that a movie about the 1,000 ways a Maya can kill a Maya--when only 10 years ago Maya people were systematically being exterminated in Guatemala just for being Maya--is in any way okay, entertaining, or helpful is the epitome of a Western fantasy of supremacy that I find sad and ultimately pornographic. It is surely no surprise that "Apolcalypto" has very little to do with Maya culture and instead is Gibson's comment on the excesses he perceives in modern Western society. I just wish he had been honest enough to say this. Instead he has created a beautiful and disturbing portrait that satisfies his need for comment but does violence to one of the most impressive of Native American cultures.